The present invention related to improvements in apparatus for carrying and transporting infants and small children. More particularly, it relates to improvements in infant carriers of the type which are adapted to be worn by an adult and serve to support an infant at or about the waist level of the adult wearer.
From time immemorial, adults have carried infant children in the very natural position in which the child's legs straddle the adult's waist with the child's buttocks resting against the adult's hip bone. This position allows the adult to support the child's back with one arm, allowing the other arm to be used for other purposes. While the adult's hip provides some support for the child, it is the arm which bears most of the child's weight. As everyone knows who has carried infants in this manner, the arm soon grows weary and it is necessary to keep shifting the child from one side to the other in order to rest one arm or the other.
To alleviate the strain on the arms of those who carry infants for any extended period of time in the manner described above, many different types of infant-carrying devices have been proposed. Such devices serve, in effect, to shift all or most of the weight of the infant from the bearer's arms to other body portions. See, for example, the infant carriers disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 484,065; 576,292; 781,033; 2,409,331; 2,411,721; and 3,197,100. All of the infant carriers disclosed in these patents have in common a platform of some sort for supporting the infant at waist level, and one or more straps for suspending such platform from the shoulder(s) or neck of the wearer. While infant carriers of this type are advantageous from the standpoints that they do provide a more secure support for the infant, they tend to be problematic in that their associated support straps tend to strain the shoulder and neck muscles of the wearer. Moreover, these shoulder straps are sometimes a nuisance for the wearer to put on, and often present an obstacle in properly positioning the infant in the carrier.
In the commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,898, there is disclosed a waist-mounted infant carrier that alleviates the shoulder and neck strain associated with infant carriers of the above type. This particular infant carrier is adapted to be worn about the waist of an adult and, according to a preferred embodiment, basically comprises a shaped member having a generally V-shaped cross section. Such member defines contoured seat and skirt portions joined along an arcuate line approximating the waist line of the intended wearer. The contoured seat portion has a shape adapted to receive and support the buttocks of an infant who is positioned to face the adult wearer with legs straddling the wearer's waist. The contoured skirt portion is shaped to the hip region of the wearer and is adapted to fit inside the waist band of the wearer's skirt or pants so that the shaped member is supported along the arcuate line along which the seat and skirt portions are joined. Alternatively, a belt is provided for securing the shaped member to the wearer's waist. Somewhat similar infant carriers are disclosed in French Patent No. 1,215,795, and in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,464,404 and 4,790,459.
According to a second embodiment disclosed in the above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,898, the shaped seat member is molded from a resilient material, such as sponge rubber or foamed polyurethane, and a rigid V-shaped member, made of plastic or metal is embedded in the molded seat to reinforce the support for an infant who is seated on the device, as well as to provide support for a belt which passes through the molded seat and functions to secure the seat to the waist of the wearer. While this type of infant carrier is relatively comfortable for the both the infant and wearer, it can be difficult to manufacture in that it is not a simple matter to accurately position the reinforcing member in the mold during the manufacturing process. Also, this type of infant carrier is disadvantageous in that the molded material tends to flake and decompose with time, and it is not readily washable to rid the seat of dirt and other contaminants which are absorbed by such materials. While the foamed seat may be dipped or sprayed with a non-porous, dirt-resisting vinyl or latex-type sealer, this adds to the product cost and only alleviates the aforementioned problems.